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[EN] The appearance of small cracks in concrete can result in a loss of performance and
functionality in the long term. Smart self-healing materials are developed as preventive
solutions to avoid the need for extensive ...[+]

[EN] The appearance of small cracks in concrete can result in a loss of performance and
functionality in the long term. Smart self-healing materials are developed as preventive
solutions to avoid the need for extensive repair works. Although several approaches for
promoting the self-healing of concrete structures have been developed during recent
decades, they will only be viable when comparative characterization techniques for
assessing their performance and efficiency are properly established. Furthermore,
modelling the healing mechanisms taking place for the different designs and predicting the
associated service life increase will help consolidate the implementation of these preventive
repair approaches.
The SARCOS Action is focused on the concept of preventive repair, with the objective of
sealing small cracks at the earliest stage of damage, both for new and existing structures,
and on looking for standardizing methodologies to evaluate the mechanical and durable
performance of the treated structures, with continuous feedback from the modelling of selfhealing
mechanisms. This is reflected in the scopes of the three SARCOS Working Groups.
The presentation aims to give a general vision on the advances attained within the
SARCOS Action, including the revision of the state-of-the art of the different aspects
addressed within the Action: self-healing approaches, techniques for characterizing selfhealing
performance and self-healing modelling.
Furthermore, an overview of the results of the recently finished EU-FP7 project
HEALCON is provided. Its aim was to design smart concrete with self-healing properties to
create durable and sustainable concrete structures. While superabsorbent polymers and
bacterial healing agents were used for healing of early age cracks in structures which
require liquid tightness, elastic polymers were proposed for healing of cracks under
dynamic load. The efficiency with regard to mechanical behaviour, liquid-tightness and
durability was quantified by (non)-destructive monitoring techniques in small and large
scale tests. Computer models were developed to simulate fracturing and self-healing[-]